Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have identified six more genetic risk factors for Parkinson's disease apart from the two dozen previously reported.

Unraveling the genetic code that leads to Parkinson's is vital to understanding the multiple processes involved in the complex illness. It will also lead to the development of effective therapies, said Andrew Singleton, a Ph.D. and scientist at the NIH's department on aging.

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Dr. Singleton and his colleagues gathered and joined existing information from GWAS, a genome-wide association study that allows scientists to find minute individualities in genetic codes for a sizeable population.

The data retrieved includes 95,282 controls and 13,708 cases of Parkinson's, all of European descent.

The chances of a person developing Parkinson's are influenced by the number of possible risk variants. The research results show the risk may double or triple depending on the number of variants present in an individual.

"The study brought together a large international group of investigators from both public and private institutions who were interested in sharing data to accelerate the discovery of genetic risk factors for Parkinson's disease," said Margaret Sutherland, a Ph.D. and program director at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

She said the identification of the gene networks and pathways of Parkinson's disease may remarkably increase the comprehension of the illness.

Parkinson's disease, also known as hypokinetic rigid syndrome, is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system. It causes a person to have mobility problems such as stiffness of the limbs or trunk, posture and  trembling of the hands, arms, or legs.

As the disease continues, the patient may have difficulties in talking, walking or in other simple tasks like eating.

A group of scientists and engineers founded Lift Labs in 2011 to help sufferers of Parkinson's disease eat.

A device it developed aims to stabilize utensils of patients whose hands tremble so much their food spills off their spoons. The Liftware cancels 70 percent of the tremors a patient experiences and provides a firm platform for the patient's food. 

TagsParkinson's, Parkinson's disease, Genetics, genetic dieases, Research, scientific research, biology research, Neural activity